anyone plain can be lovely
by princess-j3ss
Summary: Sheska never realized how important real friendship was until she met Kain Fuery. (Cover Art done by the beautiful areyousanta on Tumblr).
1. principum

**A/N:** So I can't be the only one who loves these two Nerds (both separately and together). This was supposed to be a oneshot, but then it got entirely too long for that, so I'm going to post this in three separate installments, but they'll all be up within a day of each other.

I don't know if this is perfectly canon compliant, I've definitely tweaked the timeline around a little bit to fit with the story, and I'm kind of assuming a lot of information is ~common knowledge within the military, but I am a writer and ! this is what we do. I tend to go overboard to try to make sure my fics are ~realistic, but I think that's kind of the fun with fic, so here is my self-indulgent piece.

I hope that you enjoy, thanks so much for taking the time to read!

Even supporting characters need their own stories too – Ancient Proverb

* * *

Though she no longer worked at the National Central library, Sheska still spent a lot of her time off work there, plowing her way through the books she had yet to read with a passionate fire.

And this time, she couldn't be fired for her hunger for knowledge.

She had always loved coming to the library, ever since she was a little girl. Being surrounded by books made her feel as if her problems were inconsequential. There was so much out there to learn, she could spend every hour of every day at the library and still not finish all the books. And that was only one library in the world! It reminded her that the world was so large; she was only one tiny spec in a giant universe. It was comforting, to know that, no matter how difficult her problems seemed, in the grand scheme of things, they really did not matter.

The library tended to be quite empty in the evenings; surely her fellow Ametrians were at home, having dinner with their families, talking about their days, carrying on like normal families did.

Her mother was so sick that Sheska couldn't visit. Every day for the past week she would turn up, only to be told that her mother was showing no signs of improvement, and any visitors would weaken and worsen her condition.

 _"If she gets an infection now, it will kill her. We need to be extra cautious"_ , the nurse at the front desk had told her when she tried to visit.

Sheska could remember as clearly as ever the last words she said to her mother. _'I'll see you tomorrow, Mom!'_

A week later, and she still couldn't visit. Sheska hoped that the nurses at the hospital told her mother that she had tried to visit, and was turned away. Her mother had always been a sweet woman, and having to watch her age at a rapid pace in front of her was more than unsettling.

It was devastating.

And then, not long ago, the kind man who had given her a second chance at a job had died.

Sheska could think about death and the prospect of death quite logically. You lived, you aged, you died. It was simple. It had never really bothered her before.

But there was something so fundamentally unfair about someone as cheerful and kind as Lieutenant Colonel Hughes – or rather, Brigadier General, as he had been promoted posthumously – dying. There was something so fundamentally unfair about someone as kind and strong willed as her mother fighting a downhill battle.

So, she had plunged herself into learning as many new things as she could, keeping her brain as occupied and busy as ever so she didn't have time to think about what the future held.

The brunette was attempting to teach herself Aeurogonian.

Stack of books piled so high in her arms so tall she could barely see over it, Sheska made her way to her favourite leather chair by the window, and as she passed, a pile of books behind her sneezed loudly.

"Bless you", she called over her shoulder to the pile as she kept on walking.

It took her a couple steps before she faltered, furrowing her eyebrows together. Wait a minute, books didn't sneeze!

Sheska peered around both stacks of books, and there sat a bespectacled man who was taking notes so furiously, it looked as if his hand was having trouble keeping up with his brain. It seemed as if the rest of the world around him had been tuned out completely. His tongue was sticking out just slightly, eyebrows knitted in concentration.

Sheska giggled, and he looked up, startled.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you, I just heard you sneeze, and then I thought it was the books, but then I realized books can't sneeze – now I'm rambling. I'll just – continue – yeah." The brunette pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, flustered, and turned to leave.

"No, it's alright, really. It was a good time for me to take a bit of a break anyways; I think my eyes might be permanently crossed if I keep concentrating so hard." The young man smiled at her, setting aside some of his books in an inconspicuous way, so she couldn't see the titles.

Curiosity taking over, she blurted, "What are you studying?"

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Communications, it's always been an interest. What about you? That's quite a haul you've got."

"I – yeah, I'm trying to teach myself another language, which is easier said than done when you're trying to learn out of a book. I don't think I've got the accent right at all." She paused, "I'm Sheska, by the way."

"Sheska? Nice to meet you! I'm Kain."

Nodding, Sheska hovered awkwardly for a moment before realizing he probably wanted to get back to his work. "I'll uh – let you, you know. Get back to – bye!"

Cheeks reddening, she scuttled away, books teetering precariously, which thankfully took her attention away from how damn socially inept she was.

Sheska didn't expect to see Kain again, but not a week later, the two crossed paths.

She was standing on one of the shelves to reach a book that was higher up. When she finally grabbed the book in question, she let out a triumphant "Aha!" then proceeded to nearly fall over when she heard someone chuckle behind her.

"Sorry", she hopped down sheepishly, "I know you're not supposed to stand on the shelves but I couldn't see any stools anywhere and I-" Sheska paused. "Kain?"

"We meet again." He was smiling amicably, and Sheska beamed.

"I'm not in your way, am I?"

"No, I was just passing through."

"Well, good luck with the communications research!"

"Good luck with learning your language!"

That same weekend, they ran into each other again, though this time, Sheska realized that it was more significant. She was leafing through a book on motorcars that she hadn't read before, and was so enthralled she hadn't even bothered to put it down and watch where she was going.

She should have seen it coming, but was too preoccupied, and promptly walked smack into someone.

"Oh! Geez, I'm so sorry!"

The book fell out of her hands landed on the ground with a loud thump, and Sheska leaned over to grab it the same time as the stranger she had just accosted did, and they smacked heads as they both leaned over to pick it up.

"Ouch!"

Her glasses were knocked askew, and by the time she righted them, she realized that she recognized the face in front of hers, and her hands flew to her cheeks in embarrassment.

"Kain! I'm so sorry, are you alright? I'd say I'm not usually this clumsy, but that would be a really big lie and I – I ramble when I'm nervous and I'm so sorry!"

Kain rubbed his forehead, smiling kindly at her, "It's alright, these things happen. Is your head okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I thought I cracked my glasses for a second, but luckily they're fine. I didn't realize you came here so often."

Kain shrugged up a shoulder, looking unsure of how to answer. "I don't get much of a break from work, so it's nice to have some downtime when I can."

"Well hey, you seem to keep choosing the least comfy seats in the entire building, I know where the comfortable ones are if – you know, if you want to test them out."

He smiled, and Sheska made a mental note of how kind his smile was, "I'd like that."

"Grab your books and follow me!"

Once the pair had settled in to their leather seats, each with large stacks of books placed beside them, they fell into a comfortable silence, punctuated only by the sharp flick of a page turning, or the soft hum when either of them came across something particularly interesting.

And after that, every few days Kain would turn up at the National Central library, and sit in the chairs that Sheska had shown him. The two would sit and read and make notes in their comfortable silence, until they started sharing facts with each other.

Then, comfortable silence started to turn into comfortable silence littered with intellectual conversation, both sharing facts with the other about what they were studying, that they found particularly interesting or surprising.

In the coming weeks, they started meeting more and more frequently, though it was always completely unplanned. The encounters were not long, only what they could both sneak in after work and before the library closed. But then, conversation started flowing into more personal facts as the two got to know each other.

Sheska found herself telling him all about her anxieties about her ill mother, and how she used to work at the library but had gotten fired for reading too much. Her anxieties were met with kindness and sympathy, and the offer that he was there to help her out if she ever needed it. Even talking about it with someone who was willing to lend an ear was therapeutic in a way Sheska had never contemplated before.

She stayed away from talking about her current job, because she honestly wasn't ready to talk about Mr. Hughes. It was still hard to wrap her brain around how someone so kind was just – gone.

Kain confided in her stories from his childhood; sharing with her what his parents were like, and how he had always been fascinated by communication technology. He told her how he could take apart and rebuild a fully functioning radio by the time he turned ten, in the most modest way possible. She expressed her fascination with what he could do, and he told her that he could teach her sometime.

He also stayed away from talking about work, and Sheska didn't ask or pry, she figured he would tell her about his job if and when he wanted to.

Without meaning to, or planning it, or even actively willing it to happen, the two fell into a comfortable friendship, the kind of friendship that Sheska had only read about in books.

"You really have a photographic memory? I only know one other person with one."

Sheska nodded, "When I was little, I just assumed that everyone could automatically remember everything they read, I didn't realize it was something different until I – well, until I read about it."

They both laughed, and fell back into their comfortable silence.


	2. medium

**A/N:** Thank you all so much for all your kind words and feedback! I hope you enjoy part two!

* * *

When Kain had started taking full advantage of the vast level of resources at the National Central Library on Colonel Mustang's orders, he had no idea that he would meet someone who constantly reminded him there was more to life than books.

A fact that was, admittedly, quite ironic considering she was the biggest book lover he had ever met.

There was something about Sheska that had drawn him in, he had been curious to learn more about her, and he found that not only was she one of the most intelligent people he had ever met, she also had a big heart, even with the crappy hand that life had dealt her.

After a while, he started spending more and more time at the library, not necessarily on the Colonel's orders, but because he enjoyed spending time with the brunette. She was quirky, but it was endearing. Kain was lucky enough to have companionship in his short lifetime, though he got the distinct impression that Sheska did not have many friends.

Straightening her glasses and brushing her hair out of her face, Sheska leaned on the armrest of her chair, resting her chin on her arms and looked up at him.

"If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?"

Without thinking, Kain blurted, "I'd probably want democracy."

Hopefully this area of the library wasn't bugged.

"Democracy." Sheska nodded, and it appeared that she was scrolling through the recesses of her mind to remember where she had seen the word. "I've read about democracy. It doesn't seem as bad as they tell us."

'They' being the higher ups in the government and military that continued to preach about how democracy can bring the end of a nation.

Kain nodded, instantly a little bit paranoid for the pair of them, and checked his watch.

"It's getting late, I should probably get going." He stood up, and then added, as he did every night they were at the library late, "Would you like me to walk you home?"

There were some shady things starting to happen around town, the least he could do was make sure his friend got home safely.

"I – oh, yeah! Yeah, that would be really nice. Thanks!"

They pulled on their coats, separated to put their books away, and then met at the front entrance.

They never seemed to run out of things to talk about, but they could also sit or walk in comfortable silence, and neither of them was ever bothered by it.

Though he was a little surprised as, halfway through the walk to her apartment, she blurted out the one thing he had kind of figured, but never anticipated that she would say aloud.

"I've never had a friend before", Sheska blurted halfway through their way, in a way that only Sheska could. "So thank you. For being my friend. You're a good one."

Kain blinked, momentarily caught off guard. She had a way of coming out with zingers that were probably better left unsaid, but still, he smiled kindly. "I'm glad I have the honor of being your first friend!"

They fell back into their silence.

Kain wished he had something cooler or cleverer to say that really told her how much he valued her friendship, but he came up with nothing. He had never been very suave, and had never particularly wished he was until that moment. Shoving his hands into his pocket, he kicked at a stray rock on the sidewalk, and watched as it bounced off the curb and to the street.

Once they arrived at her tiny apartment, she did something she had never done before. Stretching up on her toes, she kissed him on the cheek, and then pulled back, looking stunned at her own nerve.

They both flushed, and Sheska started rambling, "I – uh – thanks for the walking – um – I mean, thanks for walking me – I – um - I'll see you when – I'll see you! Bye!"

"Sheska, wait!"

But she had already turned on her heel and half tripped, half sprinted up the steps to her apartment.

Kain's fingertips went to his cheek to where she kissed him, and he let out a small chuckle, shaking his head at both of them. He was fairly certain he was starting to become more enamored than endeared, and he just hoped that she wouldn't try avoiding him after this.

He did not have to wait long to find out, for the next day, he saw her at work.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head as she strolled into the Colonel's office, wearing the uniform that signaled her private status. The nature of their respective employment had never come up in conversations, though they had spoken about every other possible topic. He wasn't sure why he hadn't felt the need to disclose to her that he worked for the military, but things at Central had been getting more and more intense, and their meetings had seemed like the one thing in his life that wasn't intertwined with his work. It was a nice and welcome break from everything that had been going on; to really be able to clear his mind for short bits of time they were able to spend together. Things with Sheska just weren't complicated.

At least, they hadn't been.

She was carrying a stack of books, and she lifted two off the top and placed them on the corner of Colonel Mustang' desk. "Here is the research you asked for, Colonel."

Mustang thanked and dismissed her, and as she turned away, she and Kain made eye contact. The brunette nearly dropped her remaining books, though just managed to avoid dropping them narrowly by catching them with the tips of her fingers. "Kain?!"

Someone else in the room cleared their throat, and Kain was suddenly hyper-aware that they had an audience. Lieutenant Hawkeye was the only one pretending to focus on her work, the rest of the team was openly staring.

Sheska flushed, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "I mean – uh", she peered at the shoulders of his uniform, "Sergeant … Major. Holy cow."

Jean Havoc nudged Heymans Breda, who sniggered.

She looked panicked, and Kain rose from his seat, mind short circuiting about what he could do to make the situation any less uncomfortable, but he was just as stunned as she was.

He would have given anything to know what was running through her mind.

It was a bit of a shock, of course, not not an unpleasant one. He certainly didn't see how it was as big of a deal as Sheska was making it out to be.

For two smart people, they sure could both be a little socially inept.

"Uh – Sirs!" Sheska snapped into a sloppy salute with her left hand, and then frowned at herself, snapping at even sloppier one with her right hand, and then backed out of the room.

And of course, as she wasn't watching where she was going, she backed right into the doorframe, smacking her hip against it in a way that made Kain cringe, but all he could do was stare, transfixed, standing behind his desk.

"Ow!"

She dropped her books, and looked as though she was contemplating just leaving them and making a break for it, but after a few awkward seconds, she leaned over, picked them up, and then disappeared out of sight.

They all stared after her for a moment, speechless. Even Hawkeye had stopped pretending she was working and was staring after the young girl.

Finally, Havoc broke the silence.

"What was _that_ about?"


	3. finis

**A/N:** I tried to break these up somewhat evenly, but I left most of the action to the last bit, so this one is the longest and most Exciting. One of these events was inspired on a post I saw floating around Tumblr that I could not for the life of me find to link, but if it rings any bells please link me so I can give credit where credit is due!

Thank you so much to everyone for all your kind words! I hope you enjoy this last installment!

* * *

"I kissed a commanding officer." Sheska blurted to Sara, one of her coworkers that she worked the most often with. Not because she trusted her, or because she even necessarily wanted to talk about it, but she was so worried she was about to get court martialed for her lack of discretion that she had to share it with someone.

Of course, _rationally_ she knew better, she had memorized the laws inside and out as soon as she had been hired, but sometimes, clear founded logic went out the window.

Beyond that, she felt foolish and embarrassed and awkward and - okay, maybe she did want to talk about it.

Sara, who was sitting in the desk across from her looked up, eyes wide with amusement. "Who hasn't?"

Sheska stared at her, flushing, and she giggled. "Come on, you can't just come out with a statement like that and not give me any details; you're going to need to elaborate Sheska."

The brunette wrung her hands together. "Well –it was on the cheek. And I didn't realize he worked for the military too."

Looking as though she were trying to decide whether Sheska was joking or not, Sara eventually rolled her eyes. "A kiss on the cheek is hardly anything to generate any buzz. Who was it?"

"I don't think I should say…"

"Sheska."

"Okay, okay! Uh – Sergeant Major Fuery."

Sara wrinkled her nose. "The nerdy one who works for Mustang?"

Sheska flushed. "I didn't realize he was part of that Team. He's – really sweet! And smart, and kind."

"Hmm. Sounds like someone has a little crush."

Sheska started shaking her head so vigorously that she nearly toppled off her chair. "No! It's not like that! He's a friend."

"So that explains why you're going around _kissing him on the cheek_."

Unable to tell whether she was being made fun of or not, Sheska picked up the book she had been transcribing in, and held it up to hide her scarlet cheeks. Only after a few moments of deep breathing did she realize that she was holding it upside down.

Later that day, Sheska was sitting on the floor, surrounded by papers as she transcribed, hand flying quickly across the sheets of paper.

"Sheska!" Sara came bursting into the office, making Sheska jump. She tossed her pen up in the air, trying to catch it and failing. It felt to the ground with a small smack.

"What? What's wrong?"

Sara tossed the daily newspaper down at her, and Sheska was startled to see that Second Lieutenant Maria Ross was on the front page. Picking up the paper, she rustled through it, and it screamed a cacophony of terror at her, eyes nearly blurring as she quickly took in the information.

Inhaling so sharply she started to choke, Sheska dropped the paper and wiped her eyes. "That's insane!"

She had met Maria Ross a few times, and the Lieutenant hadn't struck her as anything but loyal, kind, and dedicated to her job.

In fact, she'd even saved Sheska's life, rescuing her from being suffocated by a pile of books.

"What would she have to gain from this?"

"I don't know, but everyone is talking about it. Apparently they have a bullet from her gun that was found during autopsy."

Sheska's jaw dropped.

"She wouldn't have done this. I don't believe it Sara."

Sara scoffed, "Right, because _you_ know better than our commanding officers? Okay, Sheska."

In the following few days, it was difficult to try to figure out what to believe. At the very least, Lieutenant Ross deserved a fair trial, but she really couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she had killed anyone. She couldn't and didn't believe it.

Particularly not Brigadier General Hughes.

It was hard to focus on work, though there was a lot to do, and she found herself leaving so late at night that she would forget to even eat dinner before passing out, fully clothed on her bed.

And then came the most horrifying news of all.

Colonel Mustang had burned Maria Ross alive.

Her coworkers were chirping so much about it that in an attempt to get away from it all, Sheska had to let herself into one of the file rooms, lock the door, and curl up into a ball as she attempted to not be sick.

Maria Ross had not deserved that fate.

Colonel Mustang was nothing short of a monster.

Sheska avoided the National Central Library for the rest of the week.

For the first time in weeks, she didn't meet Kain.

What would she even say to him if she did?

And so, she was fully surprised as she was pouring herself a bowl of cereal for a late night snack, when there was a timid knock on her door.

She'd never had a visitor before!

Despite the late hour, she wrenched her door open.

"Kain!"

"Sheska", he sounded a little exasperated. "Were you not going to at least ask who it was before you opened the door? What if I were here to -" He paused, sounding unsure of how to finish his sentence. "What if I were here to rob you?"

"Well – yeah good point. I'll be more careful next time", she shrugged up a shoulder, and stepped aside so she could usher him inside her flat. "Did you want some cereal? I need to go grocery shopping so I don't have much to offer, but…"

"No, I'm alright, thank you."

"Okay."

The awkwardness between them hung heavy in the air, they hadn't seen each other since she'd embarrassed herself in front of his colleagues, and she was surprised he even wanted to see her after all that.

"I'm sorry about the other day-", Sheska started, the exact same time that Kain blurted, "I don't want you to be embarrassed-"

They both looked at each other a little sheepishly. Kain rubbed the back of his neck, and gestured to Sheska.

"You go first."

"I just – I'm sorry about the other day, I hope I didn't embarrass you in front of your – boss." She choked a little on the last word, and then turned away to start making tea so that she had something to do with her hands.

"I was going to say that I didn't want you to be embarrassed about what happened at the office – or with what happened before that."

"I'm - I'm not." She never had been a very good liar.

They were silent for a few awkward moments before Sheska turned back to face him. "Why did you come here, Kain?"

He paused for a long moment, and the kettle started whistling.

They both ignored it.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were alright."

She wasn't sure why those words had such an impact on her, but she burst into tears, and Kain took a step forward. Before she knew it, his arms were wrapped around her, and she was crying into his chest. It seemed like such a natural gesture between friends, Sheska didn't even allow herself time to be embarrassed about it. It had been a long time since she'd had a hug.

Finally, Kain leaned over and moved the kettle off the stove, and she smiled weakly.

There were so many things that she wanted to tell him, so many things she needed to get off her chest, but none of them seemed as important as the question that was burning at the forefront of her mind.

"How do you know that you can trust Colonel Mustang?"

Kain's face hardened. "It's – complicated."

"I know what happened in Ishval. I can't imagine having the power to kill people so easily. I guess it gets to your head."

Letting out a gust of breath, Kain looked like he was wavering somewhere between audacity and disbelief.

"Sheska-"

"Maybe we all need to stop blindly following our superiors when they do things like – like – like _burning someone alive_!"

Kain gaped at her, and Sheska immediately felt a twinge of guilt tug at her heart. Here she was, snapping at her only friend because of something that was emotionally impacting her, yet she had absolutely nothing to do with.

But it wasn't _right_.

And she didn't want Kain to defend him.

He looked as though he wanted to say a million different things to her, but finally decided on, "That's what soldiers do."

Sheska wrapped her arms around herself, "I'm not a soldier. And I don't want to be a monster."

Kain scrubbed his hand over his face, clearly at war with himself. "You don't – I can't – I'm not going to stand here and listen to you insult the Colonel!"

With a flood of nerve the brunette hadn't even realized she possessed, Sheska marched over to the door and wrenched it open. "Well then, here's the door."

Kain flinched as though she had struck him, and she started crying again, but she held her resolve as she held open the door, and after a moment, her friend shook his head, and walked over to it, pausing, just before he left.

"Colonel Mustang is not a monster. He's a good man."

Slamming the door shut, Sheska sunk to the ground, shaking. If only she didn't need the money for her still deteriorating mother, she'd quit her job on principle.

It took her over a week to get up the nerve to go to the library again, but her life felt empty without it. It felt empty without Kain, too, but she didn't even know how she would go about apologizing.

She kept expecting to run into him, but she never did.

Her anger and heartache had turned to sadness and heartache.

At least before, she hadn't known what it was like to have a good friend, so she may have been lonely, but she didn't feel like she was missing anything. Now, she felt like there was a small piece of her missing, and she didn't know what to do about it.

Sara's comment had stuck with her, and Sheska wondered if she was starting to feel something more than friendship for her companion. Love was something she'd only read about in books, she wasn't sure how you knew when you felt it.

She still couldn't see her mother – who wasn't getting better or worse, so at least she had that to cling onto – and all she had were the clucking ladies at work, and so she fell back into the loneliness that this time, even books couldn't fully pull her from.

Finally, finally after what felt like years but could only have been a few weeks, Kain came to find her.

She was sitting in her comfortable corner of the library, books stacked high beside her, pretending that her problems didn't exist.

"Hey, Sheska."

She looked up, startled, and smiled weakly at her – well, was he still her friend? She wasn't sure if he would want to be.

"Hey, Kain. Do you want to uh – sit down?"

He nodded, "Sure. Thanks."

He said, "I'm happy that you finally stood up for yourself," the same time as she blurted, "I'm so sorry for what I said and I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore."

"Wait, what? Sheska, friends disagree sometimes, it doesn't mean I like you any less. I just – I have loyalty to my Colonel, and I wish you saw him the way I do. But please, at the very least, tell me that you can trust me."

She bit her lip. "I – I do. I trust you."

The two sat in silence for a moment, each lost in their thoughts. "So – we're friends again?"

Kain chuckled, "Of course, we never stopped being friends. And I uh – I need my friend right now."

 _Oh no._ "What's wrong?"

"I've been transferred to the South Headquarters. I leave in the morning."

Sheska gasped, both hands flew to cover her mouth. "But the South is at war with Aerugo!"

Kain smiled wryly, "Do you have any important Aerugonian phrases you can teach me?"

She laughed, and then burst into tears for what felt like the millionth time in such a short span of time, leaning over both chair arms to hug him.

"Promise me you'll be safe, okay."

"I promise."

"You have to come back so you can teach me how to build a radio."

Kain laughed.

Sheska wasn't sure how long they embraced for, but finally, he pulled away, and wiped his cheeks.

"I want you to promise me that whatever happens here - you'll stay safe too."

A little taken aback, Sheska nodded. "I promise."

"I should get going, but I wanted to come and make sure I said goodbye."

"Yeah – I'm glad we're still friends."

"Me too. I'll see you soon Sheska, okay?"

Sheska nodded, and she watched him as he turned to leave.

Maybe if she were someone more confident, or someone who could go after what she wanted with more conviction, she would have run after him. Maybe she would have kissed him, for real that time – her cheeks reddened at the very thought.

But she wasn't one of those people, she never had been. So she watched him walk away, and watched as he turned around just before he reached the steps downstairs so he could wave at her one last time.

Sheska hoped with all her heart that she could see him again.


End file.
